Green Bay, Milwaukee Shine During NFL Draft Week

When Green Bay Packers President Mark Murphy took the stage April 24 to announce the team’s first round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, the crowd of over 200,000 people roared. When he announced the team had drafted a first-round wide receiver for the first time since 2002, the ground shook.

The emotion from the Packers fanbase was about more than the addition of Texas’ Matthew Golden to the franchise. It was also a celebration that the city of just over 100,000 people hosted Draft week for a global audience, proving it can host a massive event with the same success as larger cities.

It was also a win for the state of Wisconsin beyond the residents of Green Bay. All week, anybody asking about the impact of the state hosting the NFL Draft was met with smiles whether it was somebody from Green Bay, Milwaukee, Madison or Sheboygan.

“We want to be fly to country, not fly over country,” said Craig Trost, communications director for Travel Wisconsin. “We anticipate a $94 million economic impact for the state, with $20 million of that directly in the Green Bay area. So this is a major moment for our state and we’re just excited to shine on a big stage.”

The entire NFL Draft process was a team effort from those around the state, particularly Discover Green Bay and Visit Milwaukee. A four-day trip was centered around the NFL Draft at Lambeau Field — but there was plenty more to see and do.

“What our marketing team did such a great job with is capitalizing on this opportunity and utilizing our partners to really market ourselves as a great place to hang out, to visit, to experience all the attractions and restaurants while they’re in Milwaukee,” said Marissa Werner, director of Sports Milwaukee, a division of Visit Milwaukee. “Hopefully their experience here when they’re outside of the Draft, at our hotels and experiencing everything our city has to offer, will make them want to come back for an even longer trip.”

Green Bay Glows on Global Stage

Green Bay is by far the smallest market in the NFL, with about 105,000 residents in the city, and a total of 335,000 in its metro area. It regularly hosts more than 80,000 fans for Packers home games, but that was about a third of the crowd which showed up on April 24 for the first round.

Naturally, there were concerns about the area hosting the most people its ever had for an event. Parking, of course, was a bit of an issue, with people renting out their driveways, businesses and church parking lots for varying amounts that hovered above $100. But once parked, it was a seamless experience.

There were plenty of miles walked (close to a dozen to be exact) from the time SportsTravel left the bus in the early afternoon to the time it departed the Draft at nearly midnight. As expected, there were parties along the streets that led to Lambeau. Beers were flowing, with authentic Wisconsin cheese curds and brats everywhere.

Trost is hoping the state’s hospitality will have a future impact on those in attendance — there were an estimated 600,000 people over the three days — and those watching on TV around the world.

“It really is a dream come true for us here in Wisconsin to see an event this large come to our state and we’re able to introduce ourselves to a whole new host of visitors,” Trost said. “So we really think that regardless of what team you’re a fan of you’ll walk away a fan of the state of Wisconsin.”

NFL fans were able to go inside Lambeau Field in the hours leading to the beginning of the Draft, as the stadium hosted the Red Carpet for top prospects. About 30 minutes before the beginning of Round 1, it was announced the Draft area had reached capacity, but those left out were able to watch from inside Lambeau on the big screens. The Packers have one of the largest team shops in all of sports, which was packed all day with a line out the door. The Packers Hall of Fame inside Lambeau is also a must see for any football fan (except maybe a Bears fan).

“The storied history of the Green Bay Packers, dating back to Curly Lambeau and then Vince Lombardi and Super Bowl I — now to see the Draft at Lambeau is like the NFL has come full circle, which is really special,” Trost said. “The fans are what really makes this whole thing work here in Wisconsin.”

Milwaukee Continues to Host Major Events

When it was announced nearly two years ago that the NFL Draft would head to Green Bay, it was cause for celebration for many other cities in the state. With more than a half million people, Milwaukee is the biggest city in the state and partnering with Travel Wisconsin and Discover Green Bay was another addition to the city’s list of sports hospitality.

“We’re just excited that we do get some of that economic impact trickle down being the closest, largest city to Green Bay,” Werner said. “But being able to go up there and witness it firsthand was mind blowing — how they were able to create this whole experience in this smaller city, the smallest market in the NFL, and bring in over 200,000 people just within one night.”

Milwaukee has hosted U.S. Olympic Trials, as well as events for USA Gymnastics, USA Triathlon, USA Wrestling and recently saw the return of IndyCar action to the Milwaukee Miracle Mile. It will also host the 2025 U.S. Women’s Open at Erin Hills Golf Course from May 28 through June 1. Then there are the Milwaukee Bucks and Brewers, the city’s professional sports teams that have a strong following.

“Our hope is that there’s a lot of people who came for the Draft and loved it and just want to spend a little bit more time in this big, beautiful state of ours,” Trost said. “Maybe they came for the Draft and they didn’t have an opportunity to see many of our 15,000 freshwater lakes or go take a hike in one of our amazing forests or play some of the most elite golf in the nation. We want them to come back.”

Wisconsin has one of the best food scenes in the country. There were plenty of cheese curds and Spotted Cow at nearly every restaurant frequented. Do not go to Milwaukee if you’re on a diet.

Local Hospitality Shines Through

The Potawatomi Hotel & Casino is a renovated property that added a new hotel to the gaming areas in the past few years. For sports fans and those who like to bet on sports, the Potawatomi sportsbook is one of the nicest in the country outside of Las Vegas.

It has 2,100 square feet of LED boards that can be converted to up to 42 screens. The 90 betting kiosks offer the only place in the city where sports wagering is allowed. The casino has thousands of slot machines and table games as well, which were a favorite of Draft visitors.

It wasn’t just a football week, as our group also got to take some swings at X-Golf at American Family Field, home of the Brewers. Located on the Club Level, X-Golf features seven state-of-the-art, indoor golf simulator bays over two floors — with three bays that offer views of the field.

Another development in Milwaukee is the Baird Center, which recently underwent a $456 million expansion and modernization, doubling its size to 1.3 million total square feet. The venue opened on May 16, 2024, and now offers 52 meeting rooms, 300,000 contiguous square feet of exhibition space and the rooftop Baird Ballroom and Sky View Terrace.

The Baird Center will bring not only large conventions and events, including the TEAMS Conference & Expo in 2027,  but it also utilizes its space to host up to 30 sports tournaments each year including volleyball, basketball and cheer. Between the existing Hyatt and soon-to-be-completed Hilton, there will be nearly 1,000 hotel rooms connected to the Baird Center by skywalk.

On the final night of the trip, the schedule aligned as the Bucks were hosting the Indiana Pacers in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series. Although the weather didn’t allow for the Deer District to be fully activated, the bar scene around Fiserv Forum includes several fun spots to pregame before tipoff.

There are a handful of bars and restaurants, including the Mecca Sports Bar and Grill (the cheese curd burger is recommended) and the New Fashioned, with dozens of local drinks on tap and bowling alleys with a unique twist on the sport.

The city is proud of its 2021 NBA champion Bucks and on this night the capacity crowd was treated to a comeback victory by the home team. After the game, fans can head over to Broken Bat Brewing Company for a celebratory nightcap, accompanied by an expansive bobblehead collection and live whiffleball.

On the final day of the trip, before heading back to Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport, we stopped at one of the best brunches in the country at the Blue Egg. It was a fitting end to an exciting, calorie-filled trip to one of America’s most hospitable cities.